Residents of Sector 50, Noida, are scared to step out on rainy or windy days. That is because more than 50 per cent of the electricity poles in the area are rusty and corroded from the base, and residents fear they can break any time, electrocuting passers-by.

The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) is aware of the danger but has not taken any action yet, despite repeated complaints from sector residents.

GP Saxena, one such resident, told City Spidey, “My RWA has written to UPPCL a number of times to fix the poles, but all its pleas are falling on deaf ears. Some of the electricity poles just across the sector are in particularly bad shape and can come crashing down any moment.”

About a fortnight ago, residents of Block D got a huge scare when a live power cable broke. Thankfully, no one was injured. But even this did not spur the authorities on to take action.

Pankaj Tomar, office manager of RWA Sector 50, said that the UPPCL paid no heed to the maintenance of the electricity poles in the area. “They have never painted them to save them from rust. Illegal hoardings of several companies hang from these poles, which are often pulled off manually. The condition of these poles is so bad we are scared even this may bring them down.”

SM Yadav, sub-divisional officer of UPPCL, admitted that the poles were in bad shape. However, he added that a request for 30 electricity poles for sectors 50 and 51 had been forwarded to the discom storehouse in Sector 20. “We are waiting for these to be delivered to us,” Yadav said.

He further added that the division lacked the manpower and the material to carry out the work on time. “Work has been sluggish, as there is only one contractor at work. Even if we get the poles, work can get delayed, as we will have to wait for other necessary material to carry out the replacement work,” Yadav said.

However, when City Spidey contacted the discom storehouse, it was told that no such request had been forwarded to it. “We try to cater to all requests with the resources available to us. The officer may have prepared an estimate, but he has not forwarded us any demand,” an official at the storehouse told City Spidey.